All quiet on the feedback front for Neely

If you don't want to spend all weekend in front of the TV, all the local sports radio stations will have coverage. ESPN Radio 800 will have a national show; XTRA Sports 1360 will carry the first round with Josh Rosenberg, Eddie Pappani and Darren Bennett in studio; and XX Sports Radio will have John Kentera and Jack Cronin handle the first round after a pre-draft show hosted by Brown's Bozos (plus Mike Jackson) at the Hall of Champions. On this day, maybe more than any other, Bill Werndl will be missed.

And, if you just can't wait for ESPN or NFL Network to deliver the news, Chargers.com is offering “Pick Cam,” which the team says will reveal the pick before it shows up on TV. What, no “tweet” from A.J. Smith?

No hope

I planned to write more about the Ducks/NHL blackout situation, but changed my mind because a) it's hockey and b) my head hurts from banging it against the same wall. FSN Prime Ticket has not been and seemingly never will be available on Cox and Time Warner cable. And the only people this hurts are – of course – the fans, particularly those of the NHL and college football and basketball.

If you missed the short story yesterday, several games in the Sharks-Ducks first-round series will not be available to most San Diegans because the Versus telecast must be blacked out to protect FSN's rights to our market. Which would be fine, except FSN shows almost all Ducks games on Prime Ticket, which most cable customers in San Diego can't watch because FSN and the cable operators refuse to come to an agreement.

Even worse, broadcasts on the NHL Center Ice package also are blacked out. As one fan told me, he's willing to pay extra to watch the games and the NHL won't take his money. Another fan said he just wants to watch hockey so he finds himself rooting against the Ducks so he can see more games.

To see what the NHL thinks about the nation's eighth-largest city being virtually shut out of a playoff series involving a team a short drive away, I left messages via e-mail and voicemail for the league's VP of broadcasting and programming. Neither was returned.

Paul Olden is taking over as the PA announcer at Yankee Stadium while 98-year-old Bob Sheppard continues to try to recover from health issues that have sidelined him since late 2007. Fans of Jim Healy's old radio show will be wondering if any New Yorkers offer their opinion of Olden's performance.